Cambodia Plans October Casino Sweep Across 16 Provinces

The plan came out of an October 5 meeting between the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC) and the country’s anti-online-scam commission. The government’s October 7 announcement sets out the agencies involved and the action they can take against operators.

Casino Operators Face Licence and Criminal Checks

The CGMC will check whether casinos are sticking to their licence conditions. Online gambling is no longer permitted on the premises, even where the casino itself holds a valid land-based licence.

CGMC Secretary-General Yeth Vinel said the regulator would impose administrative sanctions if inspectors found unauthorised online gambling. Criminal cases could follow, with law enforcement handling that part.

The inspection teams will also include immigration officials, labour authorities, provincial administrations and prosecutors. That brings the checks beyond the CGMC’s usual licensing work.

Chhay Sinarith, who heads the anti-scam commission’s secretariat, went further. “Unregulated online gambling is itself a form of tech scamming,” he said, citing Cambodia’s anti-scam and anti-money-laundering laws.

The Earlier Checks Covered Only Three Provinces

The new plan follows the September 30 deadline for casino-based online gambling to stop. Cambodian authorities had already checked 24 casinos in Preah Sihanouk, Banteay Meanchey and Svay Rieng.

All 24 had stopped the online activities identified by officials, including gambling livestreams, football betting and lotteries. Equipment used for those operations was removed. 15M covered those findings on October 2.

Those checks involved three provinces. The October programme covers 16, a difference of 13 provincial jurisdictions. That is a wider inspection area, not a claim that another 13 provinces have already produced violations.

Interior Minister Sar Sokha had previously raised concerns about gambling broadcasts from casinos and the difficulty of tracing related financial flows, as Asia Gaming Brief reported.

October Inspection Results Still Pending

The government has not named the casinos due for inspection this month or given a total number of properties on the new list. Nor did the October 7 announcement report any fresh licence suspensions or criminal charges arising from the planned checks.

Licensed land-based casinos can still operate. Whether any of them have continued the prohibited online activities will be a question for the inspection teams.